Beyond the High Heavens
by Darthkvzn
Summary: Sanctuary is one of the most treacherous places for life to survive in the galaxy, which is saying a lot. Still, the Nephalem have managed to make it work. Will they survive the hidden horrors of the galaxy as they have their homeworld's?


**If you're reading this before there's a chapter 2, I'm sorry. This first chapter is merely meant to establish a timeline for events that'll define an interesting little crossover I'm planning. Futuristic Diablo sounds cool, right? - Darthkvzn**

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 **0 ADD (** _ **After Diablo's Defeat**_ **)** \- Six Nephalem heroes and their three followers defeat Diablo, the Prime Evil. Sanctuary's fate, though ever uncertain, is less dire.

The heroes, though mourning the loss of the Barbarian and the Witch Doctor, celebrate their victory, then part ways, seemingly forever.

 **1 ADD** \- The surviving heroes reunite once again, as Malthael, Death personified, strikes all across Sanctuary, taking the Black Soulstone containing the essences of the Seven Lords of Hell.

Though their victory comes at the cost of thousands of lives, and the sacrifice of the Templar and the Scoundrel, Sanctuary once again resumes a period of peace. The five remaining heroes, witnessing the horrible state of the world after Malthael's attack, decide that capitalizing on the goodwill of the people, simultaneously bringing order to their world, is the best course of action. Under the blessing of Tyrael and the guidance of the Horadrim, the five heroes set out to unite all the kingdoms in Sanctuary under the banner of the Nephalem.

 **5 ADD** \- Life in Sanctuary, though never easy, settles into a decent rhythm. Inspiring the masses, many of the common people try to live up to the example of the five Nephalem, signing up to defend their world from the perils that await in the unsettled spaces and the Burning Hells.

Having more or less united half of the existing kingdoms, the heroines decide that it is time to divide the defense volunteers under five different branches: Crusaders, the shock troops and main army; Wizards, those with arcane talent; Demon Hunters, whose precision and drive are unparalleled; Monks, the martial artists and men of peace keeping, and the Enchanters, those that heal and aid the combatants.

 **6 ADD** \- The Horadric Unity is founded, comprised of the Western Kingdoms, the Skovos Isles, and Aranoch. The Empire of Kehjistan rejects the offer. The order of the Horadrim forms the backbone of the ruling, scholar, and civilian spheres of the Unity, while the Crusaders, Wizards, Enchanters and Monks provide the bulk of the army.

After a falling out with the other heroines regarding the treatment of demonic entities, Valla the Demon Huntress strikes out on her own, taking her order to guard Arreat Crater, the only known physical link between the Burning Hells and Sanctuary.

 **10 ADD** \- Massive efforts are begun to turn New Tristram into the capital of the Horadric Unity. These include expanding the city's borders to twenty times the previous limits, and an attempt at peaceful communication with the Khazra and later the Lacuni, believed to be Sanctuary's native sentient species. The goatmen respond invariably with violence, but the panther people agree to trade with the Unity, benefitting immensely from the cultural exchange in the long run.

 **15 ADD** \- A resurrected Azmodan tries once more to take Arreat Crater by force, only to find the place littered with layers upon layers of traps, and his minions sniped before even taking a step. For the first time in recorded history, a Lord of Hell retreats from a losing battle.

The four heroes are forced to admit that there is some merit to Valla's strategy of taking the fight to the demons, at the very least confining them to their territory, and the Battlefields of Eternity.

 **27 ADD** \- New Tristram is officially declared completed, and the Horadric Unity moves its headquarters to the ever growing city.

 **72 ADD** \- Kharazim the Monk dies in his sleep, at the age of 134. His statue is erected alongside those of the other fallen heroes in New Tristram's Cain Square. The world mourns his passing while Valla fends off the 56th Demonic Incursion in secret. Monk Serena is chosen to lead the order.

 **95 ADD** \- Johanna the Crusader perishes due to wounds sustained in combat with Diablo, though not before taking the Lord of Fear down with her one last time. Her last words are a wish that the Zakarum faith guide the Horadric Unity, one that would come true centuries after her passing. Her second-in-command, Mordecai, takes her place.

 **97 ADD** \- Caldeum is added to the Unity, and thus, the Unity spans the known world. Population is at 15 million and rising steadily.

 **172 ADD** \- Eirena the Enchantress dies to save Proxima the Wizard from a resurrected Zoltun Kulle. Though burials have been outlawed for years to starve necromancers of their 'resources', Eirena secretly gets a spot beside Kormac, the Crusader. Proxima enters self-exile, and her son, Loreas, takes her place.

 **234 ADD** \- The Arcana Enclave (name taken by the Wizard's Order) finds a way to seal Arreat Crater, effectively stopping Incursions from happening again at the site. Valla and her Ranger Corps (name taken by the Demon Hunter's Order) begin to explore the Unknown regions to the north and south of the Unity. It is discovered that the South gets progressively hotter, presumably to the point of being uninhabitable, while the North is too cold to consider expansion.

The Unity considers it anyway, planning two more cities in each direction.

 **236 ADD** \- The Ranger Expeditionary Force reaches the furthest northern and southern points, making an unexpected discovery: thought before to be worlds of their own, both the Burning Hells and the High Heavens are actually a physical part of Sanctuary, at opposite sides of each other, in the South and the North, respectively.

This brings the scholars of the Unity to question the old myths of Creation, citing that no Demon or Angel, no matter how powerful, could create such an enormous world out of nowhere.

Demons are encountered once again, at the outlying areas of their territory.

Valla proposes a series of outposts in a ring around the world, but the cost is so high and the demons so dispersed that she's immediately dismissed.

 **240 ADD** \- A massive invasion event occurs once again, this time marching from the South. It is only repelled thanks to the Unity's numbers, tactics, and experience.

Valla's request is re-considered and accepted. The effort to encircle the entirety of the Burning Hells in a veritable wall of defenses drives technology forward, especially military and navigational technologies. The first prototypes of metal ships are created, and efforts to arm them are made.

 **314 ADD** \- Proxima appears once again, bringing three gifts: a 'cure' for the Khazra's demonic influence, a golem made by combining a variant of the Diamond Armor and Familiar spells, and a wand usable by non-magic people, charged with a single spell: Disintegration. She leaves immediately afterwards.

 **315 ADD** \- Proxima's cure works like a charm, turning the aggressively visceral Khazra into simple, mild-mannered men and women with a penchant for agriculture. Their numbers, while low, steadily rise thanks to the Unity's offer of amnesty and alliance.

 **320 ADD** \- Valla disappears without a trace on a solo excursion to the Burning Hells. She is never seen again, so her statue joins the other 7. Only Proxima is presumed alive out of the original 9.

 **337 ADD** \- Proxima's Construct is replicated by the Enclave's Archmage. They can be given simple orders, and will perform tirelessly. Their introduction to society is met with confusion, and wariness, but seeing how fast and reliably the constructs work cements them as a boon to the Unity.

 **339 ADD** \- With Construct help, the first Khazra city of V'leat is founded on the grasslands formerly occupied by the goatmen of the defunct Blood Clan.

341 ADD - Not wanting to be outdone by the species that a hundred years prior was still in the dark ages, the Lacuni finish construction of their home city of Reloris, in the mid-point between Kehjistan's Dry Steppes and the Swamp Lands.

379 ADD - The first Disintegration Projector is created. It is a handheld device some 3 feet in length that channels a Disintegration spell without the need for a user's Arcane energy or even knowledge. It is, however, deemed _too_ effective for regular use, and instead outfitted in the ships and towers around the Burning Hells.

 **401-404 ADD** \- Auriel, Archangel of Hope, is sent by the Angiris Council down to New Tristram as a neutral party to assess mankind's potential in the fight against the Legions of Hell. She is surprised by the level of technological and martial achievement the Unity displays, but her shock is much more apparent when she discovers that the magical energy that has become commonplace in powering the Unity's technology has begun to revert man into Nephalem.

Imperius, outraged at this revelation, orders a full blown attack against the Unity, which in turn retaliates with the full might of centuries of hardened tactics, technology, and a drive the likes of which have never been seen by the Angels. However, by diverting forces away from the Eternal Conflict on Pandemonium, the Lords of Hell are free to once again strike at the High Heavens, dispelling thousands of Angels before the Unity's military launches a counter-attack, driving the demons all the way back to their territories.

This brings about a few revelations: Sanctuary is determined to be a coreless planet, the Fields of Eternity being a tunnel spanning the entire diameter of the world, and connecting Heaven and Hell. Also, that, while unable to finish the fight on the surface of the world, it might be possible to strike at the Burning Hells from _outside_ of it. The first concepts of a spaceship are drawn up.

 **472 ADD** \- After decades of planning, building, and exploring the possibilities of space, the Unity puts a team on Sanctuary's moon, Altar. This brings the Nephalem the first true view of their world; as the Khazra team member Noruk'ko famously said: "It looks like an apple shot by a bolt", this due to the nature of the Burning Hells being akin to a scorching crater of an entry hole, and the High Heaven's incredibly tall spires resembling a crossbow bolt's form.

Covertly, the Unity begins assembling a fleet of spaceships, armed with the latest in Arcanotech weaponry.

 **500 ADD** \- On the 500th anniversary of the Prime Evil's defeat by the Nine, the Horadric Unity unleashes a full orbital bombardment of the Burning Hells. Billions of demons are incinerated in what is dubbed "The Cleansing of Sanctuary". The constant flow of demonic troops on Pandemonium suddenly stops, for the first time in eons.

Still, some of the Lords of Hell survive, among them Diablo, Belial, Andariel and Azmodan.

In a stunning move, some 30,000 succubi led by Proxima and Cydaea, Maiden of Lust, surface on Arreat Crater, believed to be sealed for hundreds of years. Proxima vouches for the hellspawn, claiming that the former Consort of Azmodan and her She-Demons seek refuge from Diablo's rage. The public is understandably mistrusting, but the Unity is willing to give the benefit of the doubt to Proxima, due to her many contributions, and the fact that Cydaea and the succubi are not known to be overly violent demons. The island of Skartara, of the Skovos Isles, volunteers to house the demonic refugees

 **633 ADD** \- After almost a century and a half of relatively peaceful coexistence, the Horadric Unity decides to add the Succubi as a member species, and not just as refugees.

 **651 ADD** \- Global population experiences an unprecedented rise, as new advancements in healing techniques and virtually non-existent demonic incursions prompt mortality rates to drop drastically. For the first time in the history of Sanctuary, resources begin to dwindle. With the technology to go into space developing to even greater heights, the Horadric Unity starts to look to the stars for a new home.

 **672 ADD** \- The first step in colonizing Altar is taken, as a highly advanced Transformation Engine is developed. This device is designed to both generate an atmosphere, and keep it intact. Further upgrades allow for soil modification. It is rumored Proxima has a hand in the creation of these.

 **700 ADD** \- More than two hundred years after the people of Sanctuary leave their atmosphere, the first settlement on Altar is officially founded, named Limbo City. A mixed population is deemed best.

 **705 ADD** \- The Succubi are officially incorporated into the Unity's armed forces, as the Night Stalkers. Due to their natural agility, keen senses and a penchant for stealth, the Night Stalkers function as scouts and sniper units. This helps ease the natural distrust from Demon Hunters into a friendly rivalry.

 **792 ADD** \- The Unity colonizes every possible location in their solar system, and begins devising methods for long range travel. Surprisingly, it is in the High Heavens that they find their answer: spurned by Nephalem perseverance in scholar pursuits, the Angels have been trying to invent their way into an equal footing with the Unity. Imperius promises to gift their new photon powered technology, including their new trans-light propulsors, in exchange for the extermination of every last Succubi.

After almost three hundred years of coexistence, the response is a predictable and resounding 'no'. The Archangel almost provokes another war, but grudgingly acknowledges such a conflict would end badly for Angelkind. He leaves with his offer, but Auriel stays; guilty over causing the war between Angels and Nephalem before, she gifts the Unity the plans for the technology, in exchange for housing the dissident Angels that have slowly become more than half of their entire population.

The Unity, of course, accepts, as long as they can coexist with the Succubi as well, which Auriel approves.

Furious at this new development, Imperius leads the remaining Angels against the Unity once more, and once more, they are soundly defeated. The war ends swiftly when Auriel destroys Imperius in single combat. The surviving Angels surrender, and they are quarantined to the High Heavens, until such a time as they can successfully integrate with Horadric society.

 **800 ADD** \- The High Heavens are officially annexed to the Unity. While still the capital of the Angelic race, its doors are open to all the Unity, unlike before. Archangel Auriel leads the newly reformed Angiris Council, which in turn reports to the Horadric Unity as a client state.

 **812 ADD** \- The newly formed colony of Haymaker issues a distress signal, and the 12th Scouting Fleet is sent to investigate, with the 4th War Fleet scrambling into action right behind.

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 **Thoughts? Some things, such as the hero names and some of the organizations, are subject to change. But the events are mostly set in stone. I'd appreciate some feedback, but don't expect results even in 2015. Too many ongoing stories!**


End file.
